SK Bioscience draws record deposits in 2-day public subscription

Investors line up at Korea Investment & Securities on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday, to sign up for vaccine maker SK Bioscience's public subscription for its initial public offering (IPO) later this month. Yonhap

Korean vaccine maker SK Bioscience Co. is estimated to have raised a record 63 trillion won ($55.2 billion) in investor deposits during its two-day public subscription for an initial public offering (IPO), the company's IPO managers said Wednesday.

SK Bioscience's six IPO managers said subscription deposits for SK Bioscience shares surpassed the 58.6 trillion won for gaming company Kakao Games and 58.4 trillion won for K-pop agency Big Hit Entertainment, the two largest IPO deals since September last year.

SK Bioscience, a unit of Korea's No. 2 family-controlled conglomerate SK Group, has allocated up to 2.29 million new common shares to general investors in the March 18 IPO seen as a prime share sale during the first half.

SK Bioscience has set the IPO price at 65,000 won per share, which puts its corporate value at about 5 trillion won.

SK Bioscience engages in developing COVID-19 vaccines and produces vaccines on behalf of other drug companies. The company has started a clinical trial of its own vaccine candidate, and it has signed deals with AstraZeneca, Novavax and other global pharmaceutical firms to produce their vaccine candidates. (Yonhap)